The Oberth-class is only used as a science vessel by Starfleet and the non-Starfleet agencies. The has a
very unusual structure, with two separate hulls connected by the nacelle pylons. The upper section
contains the living quarters, bridge and science labs. While the bottom section contains the warp core
and engineering. Either there's a turbolift shaft that runs through the pylons or the crew has to beam
to each section. The ship itself only requires a small crew to operate the it.

The registry of the USS Oberth is NCC-602, probably meaning this ship came into service in the early
23rd century and was later refitted and modernized. It is assumed that the Oberth-class has been
retired, and that the Nova-class replaced it as a planetary science
vessel.

The Oberth-class is very unusual, especially since many of the standard features found on other
Starfleet vessels aren't present. The nacelles lack the normal bussard collectors and blue warp field
grill. Also the navigation deflector array is missing. There might be impulse engines, but they
aren't obvious.

The class was named for 20th century German rocket pioneer Hermann Oberth. The first Oberth-class ship seen
was the USS Grissom in Star Trek III.

USS Bonestell NCC-31600
Destroyed at Wolf 359 by the Borg in 2367.Named for astronomical artist Chesley Bonestell.
"The Best of Both Worlds, Part II" - TNG.

USS Cochrane NCC-59318
Transported Doctor Bashir to Deep Space-9 in 2369.Named in honor of Zefram Cochrane. The registry is also believed to be NCC-8000 according
to another Oberth-class vessel from "The Drumhead" - TNG.
"Emissary" - DS9.

USS Copernicus NCC-623
In Space Dock at the time the Enterprise-A was
launched."Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home"

USS Grissom NCC-638
Destroyed in 2285 by a Klingon Bird-of-Prey at the Genesis Planet.Named for the Mercury astronaut Virgil I. Grissom, who was killed in the Apollo 1 fire in
1967.
"Star Trek III: The Search for Spock"

USS Oberth NCC-602
Class prototype.

USS Pegasus NCC-53847
While commanded by Admiral Pressman in 2358 the Pegasus was a prototype starship used as a
testbed for many of the new system designs used on
Galaxy-class ships. While testing an illegal phasing cloak the crew mutinied
and only seven crewmembers escaped. The Pegasus, while still cloaked, drifted into an
asteroid not to be found until 2370.The Pegasus was originally planned to be a Cheyenne-class
starship however it was decided to make it an Oberth-class for budget reasons. Named after
the famous winged horse of Greek mythology that sprang from the severed neck of Medusa.
"The Pegasus" - TNG.

USS Raman NCC-29487
Lost at Marijne VII in 2370, the crew was killed by subspace lifeforms living in the lower
atmosphere of the planet.Named for Nobel Prize winning physicist, Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman.
"Interface" - TNG.

USS Tsiolkowsky NCC-53911
In 2364 the crew of 80 officers became infected and died from the results of the Psi 2000
virus while monitoring the collapse of a red super giant star into a white dwarf star.Named after the Russian space pioneer Konstantin Tsiolkovsky.
"The Naked Now" - TNG.